Exegesis:
eiselthōn pros autēn eipen ‘having gone in to her said.’
eiserchomai followed by pros with a personal object ‘to go to somebody,’ often with the connotation of going into somebody’s house, cf. Mk. 15.43; Acts 10.3; 11.3; Rev. 3.20.
chaire, kecharitōmenē ‘hail, O favoured one,’ play on sounds.
chaire imperative (this form †) of chairō, ‘to be glad’ (cf. on 1.14), used as a very common formula of greeting, its meaning ranging from ‘hail to you’ to ‘hello.’ Some translators take chaire in the literal meaning and translate ‘rejoice’ with reference to Old Testament verses announcing the coming of the Messiah (Zeph. 3.14-17; Zech. 9.9). The former interpretation is preferable.
kecharitōmenē perfect participle of charitoō here ‘to bestow favour upon,’ ‘to bless.’ The precise meaning of the verb here (which to Mary is not quite clear as v. 29 shows) is explained by the angel in v. 30 ‘you have found favour with God,’ charis being the key to both expressions, cf. on v. 30.
ho kurios meta sou ‘the Lord be with you’; either with estin ‘is’ or estō ‘be’ understood. When understood with estin the clause is a statement, continuing and explaining the preceding vocative kecharitōmenē (cf. Judg. 6.12); when estō is understood the clause contains a wish (cf. Ruth 2.4). The former is preferable.
meta sou ‘with you,’ meta with genitive here in the figurative sense of ‘standing by’ somebody.
According to Jewish custom it was considered unusual to greet a woman (cf. Strack-Billerbeck II, 99); this explains Mary’s bewilderment expressed in v. 29.
Translation:
The verse continues the narration of events after the enumeration of additional details given in v. 27. The pronoun he often has to be specified, e.g. by using, ‘the angel,’ or ‘Gabriel.’
He came to her. It may be preferable, or even obligatory, to say ‘come to where she was’ (Sinhala), ‘enter her vicinity/presence’ (Dravidian languages), ‘enter her house’ (Javanese, Batak Toba, Tae,’ Sranan Tongo), ‘ascend to her house’ (Tae’ 1933, because the only type of house known at the time was one built on poles). In some languages the expression requires careful handling here, because ‘entered her house,’ ‘came to her,’ would suggest sexual intercourse; hence ‘he came and arrived where Mary was’ (Kituba), ‘he came gently to her’ (Uab Meto).
Several versions can render hail by a word or formula commonly used in the language when greeting a person. Its basic meaning may be, (1) a term of well-wishing, e.g. ‘peace to you’ (Arabic, borrowed also in some Indonesian languages), ‘you in peace’ (Bambara), ‘goodness’ (Kituba), ‘hither your soul’ (Toraja-Sa’dan), ‘good morning’ (An American Translation), ‘live’ (Tamil), ‘be/stay well’ (Balinese, Ekari, where the use of the formula is rather recent); (2) a phrase for asking permission to enter or to depart (Batak Toba); or (3) a question like English ‘how are you’ (Cuyono), cf. also Sranan Tongo odi, a distant relative of ‘how do you do.’ Other versions use a form of the verb ‘to greet,’ e.g. ‘be greeted’ (Nieuwe Vertaling, Zürcher Bibel), ‘I greet you’ (Bible en français courant). In some cases existing formulas of greeting cannot be used, as e.g. in Marathi, where the common Muslim greeting (salaam, lit. peace) is suspect to the Hindus in the area, whereas the Hindu formulas are objectionable to Christians, because they imply worship of the divine spirit within the person greeted; the translators solved their problem by using a neutral word for well-wishing. Elsewhere the custom of greeting and corresponding formulas do not exist (as e.g. in Tboli, where the translator employs an interjection used to attract the attention of a person to whom one wants to speak), or terms for greeting do not refer to words but to gestures, e.g. ‘to meet snapping fingers,’ which may lead to a rendering of “hail” by ‘I meet you snapping fingers.’ If the translator is of the opinion that the literal meaning of the Greek verb should prevail (see Exegesis), he should try at the same time to bring out its functional meaning, e.g. by using some such translation as, ‘and greeted her with the words, “Be glad” ,’ or ‘and grasped fingers with her saying, “Rejoice” .’ This is necessary because in v. 29 Mary expressly refers to her having been greeted.
O favoured one. In rendering the Greek construction (a passive participle used as a noun in the vocative) various shifts and/or additions may be necessary. (1) The form of address may become more natural by adding the name ‘Mary,’ or the pronoun second person. (2) The agent, ‘God,’ may have to be added. (3) One may have to shift from exclamation to statement, ‘for you are made to rejoice’ (Uab Meto), or (4) from passive to active voice, ‘you whom God favours,’ or ‘you who receive favour/grace’ (Sranan Tongo, Bahasa Indonesia), or (5) to a combination of (3) and (4), ‘God favours you.’ The verb has been rendered, ‘to help well’ (Huanuco Quechua), ‘to dispense fullness of satisfaction’ (Ekari), ‘to value-highly’ (Navajo), ‘the breath to be with,’ i.e. to think of, or, to love (Tboli); cf. also the references on v. 30.
The Lord is with you, or, ‘accompanies you,’ ‘is near to you’ (Toraja-Sa’dan), ‘stands by/takes-care-of-you’ (Tae’ 1933). In some languages the durative aspect is made explicit, ‘continually is with you’ (Tboli).
Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.